Villagers mobilise against Sikh school plans

The proposed site for the school The proposed site for the school

VILLAGERS are mobilising against a Sikh organisation’s plans to build a new secondary school in Stoke Poges.

About 400 people attended a meeting at the village centre in Rogers Lane on Wednesday evening to voice concerns over the proposals from Slough Sikh Education Trust [SSET].

It wants to open the Khalsa Secondary Academy on a site in Hollybush Hill, currently occupied by technology firm Pioneer UK.

The scheme has sparked uproar among residents who fear the 840-pupil ‘free school’ would bring a huge influx from Slough and cause traffic chaos.

Stoke Poges Parish Council says several of its members are researching SSET’s site selection process and seeking expert advice on planning policies.

It is also exploring the possibility of villagers submitting a ‘community bid’ to buy the Pioneer House site and find an alternative use for it.

The council points out there are already two schools in the near vicinity, adding on its website: “The amount of traffic likely to be generated by a secondary school with potentially up to 1,000 pupils from outside the village being transported by buses and cars will have a major impact on the existing road network both in Stoke Poges, and the surrounding villages.”

Nick Kandola, chair of SSET, says his organisation looked at a number of potential sites within Slough, but none were considered viable by council planners or Trust members.

Initially about 70 per cent of pupils will come in from Slough with the remainder from South Bucs, he said, though he expects this to change as the Sikh population rises in South Bucks.

He says most pupils will travel by bus, avoiding the village centre, while the school day will start earlier than other schools which will help ease congestion.

Though it would be a faith school, the admission policy states that 50 per cent of pupils can be non-Sikh.

Comments(54)

lady Ratz says...
12:53pm Fri 8 Feb 13

So they say it will cause traffic chaos and a influx of sikh,s from slough,, Stoke poges villager,s Be honest, The truth is you do not want hide and seeks in stoke Poges,, You are using the same old excuse,, Traffic Chaos E.T.c ,

Village Rascal says...
2:25pm Fri 8 Feb 13

@lady Ratz - A more ignorant and ill informed comment I couldn't hope to find.

AndyTow says...
2:35pm Fri 8 Feb 13

If you live in Iver, Denham, Gerrards Cross, Hedgerley, Fulmer, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal this concerns YOU! Khalsa Secondary Academy WILL become your nearest school. If you have a child currently in Year 5 or below you WILL have to pay approximately £1000 per year for transport if you choose not to send your child to this school.

Sikh Villager says...
3:00pm Fri 8 Feb 13

kandola says 30% will be from South Bucks, he knows that is far from the truth and his actions prove this.

* The Sikhs from South Bucks don’t want this.
* The primary in Slough has circa 10% non-sikhs and struggles to find non Sikh attendance.
* All the places have been offered to Sikhs already.
* Provision has been made to bus children in from 10 miles away already.
* The school is required by a Labour area MP & Council in an urban area. Which has sites the council will not release.
* Stoke Poges is a small village in the green belt. A Tory area, council and MP
* SSET have done a deal with the DfE to open this in Green Belt. He has admitted they told him to keep it from villagers until the last moment
* Fiona McTaggart presents a petition claiming to represent South Bucks. last time I looked she was the MP for Slough.
* Kandola says there no traffic problems due to coaches. The example is Guru Nanak Academy in Hayes and The Sikh school in Slough, both of them have parking chaos.

Tory voters, this is how Cameron repays you. SSET visited Cameron and Gove. They do not care about voters, only saving their skin and flagship free schools policy.

lastly Lady ratz, you have a name that befits you. What a disgraceful comment.

Voyeur says...
3:04pm Fri 8 Feb 13

I can't help but think there is some sort of religious and/or racist element to the opposition to this school. I find it hard to believe that there would be so much opposition if it were a Church of England school proposed.

thethe says...
3:07pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Do away with all faith schools and also the two tier system and send children to their nearest school. Bucks CC waste millions of pounds each year on bussing children around not to mention the pollution and congestion this causes

pennman says...
3:13pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Why not build it in Slough? I'm sure SEGRO have space

Sikh Villager says...
3:19pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Voyeur,

I am a Sikh, just go onto the facebook page and see how many Sikhs in the village oppose this.

The real issue is that SP has kept itself away from Slough and maintained its rural charm. 1,000 kids coming into a village of 5,000 will change the village forever.

The SSET moaned about being ignored re a school in Slough and then practice hypocrisy by ignoring the community that they are running roughshod over.

Speaking as a Sikh, they are giving the rest of us a bad name and are an embarrassment to our community. Playing the race card is just low!!!!

Village Rascal says...
3:38pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Voyeur wrote:
I can't help but think there is some sort of religious and/or racist element to the opposition to this school. I find it hard to believe that there would be so much opposition if it were a Church of England school proposed.
I'd read the comment from the Sikh Villager if I was you.

Voyeur says...
3:40pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Sikh Villager - so you are OK with the religious card then?

I would have thought that an extra 1,000 students coming into the village daily might provide a boom in economic activity for the village.

DS SP says...
3:47pm Fri 8 Feb 13

There is no shortage of secondary places in this part of Bucks. Why on earth would anyone think it was a good idea to have 1000 people arriving from outside the county to our village with its population of less than 5000? The proposed site is in green belt, it is on a narrow road with no footpath to the eastern end. The villagers, Sikh and non-Sikh, are against this land grab from Slough. If Slough have a shortfall in school places, it is because they have not prioritised finding a solution within their boundary. Check out the FB page "We don't want a new school in Stoke Poges" to see how much this is not about race but about preserving our village.

Sikh Villager says...
3:51pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Voyeur,

Your arguments are getting that pathetic that its obvious you are a part of these jumped up hypocrites. We have no interest in economic booms, we want our village to stay as it is.

What part of "WE DON'T WANT THIS DON'T YOU LOT UNDERSTAND?"

SSET will lose this. They think that Gove and Cameron will come through for them. The local press are picking it up now and it will soon go national. Just as Gove U Turned on the EBC today he will dump SSET as a political battle not worth fighting. The villagers will fight to the death.

SSET have lost the argument in every capacity and are now making things up, you couldn't make it up.

Voyeur says...
4:00pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Blimey - if that's Green Belt you have already been done! There is a huge building there. It looks like a brown field site to me.

In any event, the Conservative led government says it is alright to build on the Green Belt for economic growth purposes, so I fear you are all flogging a dead horse.

Voyeur says...
4:01pm Fri 8 Feb 13

At least I am not pretending to be a Sikh Villager! Who is the hypocrite now?

Village Rascal says...
4:08pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Voyeur wrote:
At least I am not pretending to be a Sikh Villager! Who is the hypocrite now?
So, lets see, you've been caught out for playing the racist card, so you tried the 'Green Belt' card and hence you've been caught out because you know nothing about the history of the site, and now you are resorting to calling people liars.

I'd give up now if I was you.

Sikh Villager says...
4:32pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Voyeur wrote:
At least I am not pretending to be a Sikh Villager! Who is the hypocrite now?
So now you admit to being the liar, trying to stir things up, not disclosing your motives? Your like Kandola his argument is built on lies. Some of came out of the pend and learnt to integrate and keep our culture. Others want to bring Jallandher here and be hated for it. Sikhism is about community, all you want to do is ignore the community that has been happy here for years.

If you were a proper Sikh you would work for the wishes of all. You lot want to do is wander around the Gurdwara telling everybody how high and mighty you are because you built the school. I question your motives.

Sikh Villager says...
5:06pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Voyeur wrote:
Blimey - if that's Green Belt you have already been done! There is a huge building there. It looks like a brown field site to me.

In any event, the Conservative led government says it is alright to build on the Green Belt for economic growth purposes, so I fear you are all flogging a dead horse.
Manjit it's you isn't it?

Just so your aware the next big story is how the desperate SSET are resorting to lies and shaming the Sikh community. Coming to a local paper near you next week.

Sikh Villager says...
5:22pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Sorry I forgot to add, being from Slough you obviously have no idea what the greenbelt is so I'll make is easy for you. Follow the link below, look at appendix 2, page 3, the green belt is clearly marked for you.

.........and there was me thinking all Sikhs were clever. I guess it doesn't apply to all. Bhodthu Pendu.


http://www.stokepoge
sparishcouncil.gov.u
k/wp-content/uploads
/downloads/2011/02/P
arish-Plan-Final.pdf

poggle says...
6:06pm Fri 8 Feb 13

It doesn't matter what type of secondary school it is (faith or non faith), the village infrastructure will not cope with it.

Roger_D says...
6:23pm Fri 8 Feb 13

A secondary school is a secondary school. 840 students plus 100 cars means traffic, parking chaos, congestion, pollution and noise.

Young people are young people and behave in a carefree way.

None of the above wanted in a rural location thank you.

Roger_D says...
6:27pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Roger_D wrote:
A secondary school is a secondary school. 840 students plus 100 cars means traffic, parking chaos, congestion, pollution and noise.

Young people are young people and behave in a carefree way.

None of the above wanted in a rural location thank you.
Sorry, meant 100 staff in cars.

Where's the edit function?

Voyeur says...
8:59pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Just for the record Sikh Villager, I can assure you I am not Manjit and I am not from Slough. I am not even a Sikh.

I think you owe Manjit the Sikh from Slough an apology!

graham64 says...
9:18pm Fri 8 Feb 13

I note the following statement taken from the article;

"Nick Kandola, chair of SSET, says his organisation looked at a number of potential sites within Slough, but none were considered viable by council planners or Trust members"

So no sites in Slough were considered viable then? However, in a letter received by the Parish Council from Mr Kandola himself on the 5th Feb 2013, Khalsa's previous interest in two Slough sites is noted at some length on page 1. The letter states that SSET initiated discussions on each site with Slough Borough Council (SBC). However in each case, and I quote from the letter, the result apparently was:- "We were simply ignored".

So it would appear then, that on being 'ignored' by SBC, SSET simply gave up trying to secure one or other of these sites. Given that SSET is an organisation that is clearly used to lobbying all the way to Ministerial level, I find it scarcely credible that on being "ignored" by local government SSET simply walked away from a project clearly dear ro their hearts!

It stretches belief even further since ex-Slough Councillor Peter Dale-Gough is now the education consultant for Khalsa, and current Slough councillor Diana Coad is heavily involved with supporting the Khalsa proposal.

Given both individuals were in post in Slough Borough Council presumably at the time of these discussions, I would have thought that SSET's connections to the Planning Committee and Officers would be expected to have been rather better, and ensured more reasonable treatment of Khalsa’s proposals than as laid out in Mr Kandola's recent letter?

Mr Kandola, would you like to comment?

Roger_D says...
12:57am Sat 9 Feb 13

It's strange that SSET gave up so easily on their home turf, because 'they were ignored'.

Yet they turn up, out of the blue, all guns blazing in the next county, full of confidence about their fantastic offer to the educate the local children. Except their year 7 is already fully enrolled with children from Slough and West London. How can they claim they offer 50% of places to non-sikhs when they didn't promote the school outside the sikh community?

Lying, deceiving, manipulative, arrogant. Not words you would associate with the majority of sikh people. Only SSET.

Steve Holloway says...
8:45am Sat 9 Feb 13

Lets be clear why Stoke Poges villagers are concerned!

This is about building an 800 plus size school on Green Belt land, bordering a Conservation Zone, on a site served by narrow country lanes, many without pavements or street lighting. Imagine hundreds of vehicles vehicles every morning and every afternoon trying to drive up these lanes, the damage to Green Belt land any the likely impact on a Conservation Zone.

And lets clarify some other facts.
1. If this school opens then South Bucks CC have already stated that for any children in Stoke Poges, Denham, Iver, Farnham Common, Hedgerley, Gerrards Cross, and many other local village, if they choose not to attend this school they WILL HAVE TO PAY SCHOOL TRANSPORT at unto £1000 per year.
2. The SSET have clearly and deliberately ignored Government guidelines for Free Schools. Any proposed Faith School is supposed to have a 50/50 split of faith and non-faith students. The SSET have openly stated that their proposed 1st year intake will be 90% Sikh. Why? Because they managed to talk to Sikh students in Slough, Southall, Hayes, and other London Boroughs, whilst deliberately avoiding seeking potential applicants from 'local' Primary Schools.
3. The SSET claim this school will serve predominantly students from Slough. Slough District Borough Council seem to think it is perfectly fine to encourage building on Green Belt land in a neighbouring County, for Slough based children, whilst selling existing School land (Arborvale School) to build a football stadium.
4. That the SSET have misled and obfuscated at every turn in this process demonstrating their underhand and dishonest approach. They claim they were told by the DfE to keep this secret from Stoke Poges Parish Council whilst advertising to any prospective Head Teachers, presumably mid last year, that this school would be based in Stoke Poges. They started a Public Consultation on January 7th and then made a Press Release on January 11th to state it was happening, and then posted security at the consultation with Alsatian Dogs and claimed Pioneer set up the security measures.

The list goes on and on and on!!!!

daljeetsidhu says...
9:19am Sat 9 Feb 13

Sikh school plan will help the entire community and not just the Sikhs. Not sure why such vehement opposition against the school. I think it is totally misplaced.

Steve Holloway says...
9:34am Sat 9 Feb 13

I think my comment clearly explains my views.
The Sikh School plan will not help the local community, the SSET has deliberately created a 90% Sikh majority in its proposed first year of operation, not offered any places to local children by avoiding approaching any local schools, will destroy Green Belt land and impact on the adjoining Conservation Zone. There are no economic benefits, environmental benefits, educational benefits (given the existing excellent South Bucks) and there is a an existing School site next the the Khalsa Primary School which Schools could be used for this purpose!

norma stitz says...
10:04am Sat 9 Feb 13

All faith schools should be abolished.
Religion should play no part in education.
Look what segregation has achieved in Northern Ireland. a divided, bigoted society and we are heading in the same direction.
Abolish the two tier education system along with all religious schools.

Village Rascal says...
4:08pm Sat 9 Feb 13

daljeetsidhu wrote:
Sikh school plan will help the entire community and not just the Sikhs. Not sure why such vehement opposition against the school. I think it is totally misplaced.
As Steve Holloway says, there is no tangible advantage to this. Even the Sikh community in Stoke Poges are against this. This whole project is driven by ego. Its uneconomic, environmentally unfriendly, socially divisive and has been manipulated by KSA so that they have an overwhelmingly, and hence wholly unattractive, Sikh School. They are effectively creating a private school for Sikhs and using taxpayers money to do it.. What KSA have done shows a huge amount of disrespect for the local population and puts their own community in an extremely poor light. They have lied to Villagers and almost certainly misled Government. Support these people and you are supporting a dictatorship. Luckily, the village has a large proportion of Sikhs who are against it so whilst KSA might come across as arrogant and uncaring, at least we know its not the whole Sikh community.

buser says...
5:22pm Sat 9 Feb 13

AndyTow wrote:
If you live in Iver, Denham, Gerrards Cross, Hedgerley, Fulmer, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal this concerns YOU! Khalsa Secondary Academy WILL become your nearest school. If you have a child currently in Year 5 or below you WILL have to pay approximately £1000 per year for transport if you choose not to send your child to this school.
So if they relocated Beaconsfield Secondary School,to this site you would be happy? Definitely not racist then!

Miss Nuphonic says...
6:17pm Sat 9 Feb 13

daljeetsidhu wrote:
Sikh school plan will help the entire community and not just the Sikhs. Not sure why such vehement opposition against the school. I think it is totally misplaced.
How exactly do you think this will help the entire community??

Sikh Villager says...
9:39pm Sat 9 Feb 13

Roger_D wrote:
It's strange that SSET gave up so easily on their home turf, because 'they were ignored'.

Yet they turn up, out of the blue, all guns blazing in the next county, full of confidence about their fantastic offer to the educate the local children. Except their year 7 is already fully enrolled with children from Slough and West London. How can they claim they offer 50% of places to non-sikhs when they didn't promote the school outside the sikh community?

Lying, deceiving, manipulative, arrogant. Not words you would associate with the majority of sikh people. Only SSET.
Roger a very fair and accurate viewpoint.

poggle says...
11:41am Sun 10 Feb 13

buser wrote:
AndyTow wrote:
If you live in Iver, Denham, Gerrards Cross, Hedgerley, Fulmer, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal this concerns YOU! Khalsa Secondary Academy WILL become your nearest school. If you have a child currently in Year 5 or below you WILL have to pay approximately £1000 per year for transport if you choose not to send your child to this school.
So if they relocated Beaconsfield Secondary School,to this site you would be happy? Definitely not racist then!
Having a son at Beaconsfield Secondary and knowing the amount of traffic that is created during the morning / afternoon; no I wouldn't be happy with relocating them either. Even though it would save me money on school transport.

AnthonyEDL says...
5:17pm Sun 10 Feb 13

Anyone interested in joining the EDL - please feel free to give me a call.

Anthony on 01494526546

Village Rascal says...
6:50pm Sun 10 Feb 13

AnthonyEDL wrote:
Anyone interested in joining the EDL - please feel free to give me a call.

Anthony on 01494526546
@AnthonyEDL. Don't , for one second, believe this has anything to do with race, religion or immigration. This is a Government Policy attack on a rural site combined with the complicit and highly dubious motives of a Labour Council. It is about poor planning and the protection of our village. Its certainly not about the EDL.

Sikh Villager says...
8:06pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Goodbye EDL, you are not needed here, anywhere, ever.

Sikh Villager says...
8:10pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Roger_D wrote:
It's strange that SSET gave up so easily on their home turf, because 'they were ignored'.

Yet they turn up, out of the blue, all guns blazing in the next county, full of confidence about their fantastic offer to the educate the local children. Except their year 7 is already fully enrolled with children from Slough and West London. How can they claim they offer 50% of places to non-sikhs when they didn't promote the school outside the sikh community?

Lying, deceiving, manipulative, arrogant. Not words you would associate with the majority of sikh people. Only SSET.
.... and especially Nick Kandola. His deceit can be summed up as follows.

You kept it from us, that is deceit. You have based your traffic consultation on false numbers, that is deceit. Deleting reasonable posts on your FB page, is deceit. Trying to build a case for a school in Slough and then presenting it as a need for SP, is deceit. Telling people that the Dog was Pioneers doing was deceit, we all know it wasn’t. If the DfE want to be deceitful and keep this from the village, you as a true Sikh must turn them down. We believe your ego is driving this, strictly forbidden by Sikhism. You should not be following a practice that is deceitful, as a Sikh you cannot do this.

You are a disgrace.

evolution5 says...
11:56pm Wed 13 Feb 13

@ sikh villager. just by being born a Sikh does not actually make you one - maybe you should take some time out to learn about it. Quit preaching and embarrassing yourself

You may or may not have noticed but thousands of cars travel down Gerrards cross road every day, and today hundreds of people travel into the Pioneer building not to mention the deliveries - i really cant see the difference the school will make. Most of the villagers live on the opposite side of the main road anyway. Many of us actually support the project

some of the people on the facebook page should be ashamed of themselves, with people like amrik jalif on more than one occasion wanting the protest outside the Sikh Primary school, scaring the innocent children that study there. Not one villager voiced against the idea... says a lot

really cant see what this has to do with surrounding villages like Fulmer etc, and getting kids to sign a form which has no age restrictions is just fudging the numbers. the idea of sticking posters up miles away from the site is equally pointless

guys wake up, you don't own stoke poges , and you cant take it with you when you go. Its a bit like hounslow residents saying dont let villagers into the area to cut back on heathrow flights

Village Rascal says...
8:09am Thu 14 Feb 13

@evolution5. I have to take you to task on your 'facts'. You say "thousands of cars travel down Gerrards Cross Road every day", that may be so, but adding to the volume, adding to an already acknowledged problem, is not going to help. I know, I have the misfortune to have to deal with it every day as I live on the road affected.
You say that "hundreds of people travel into the Pioneer building not to mention the deliveries". That is completely incorrect. The most recent stats say only about 50 people worked there, currently closer to 30. The site was designed for 400 and has never had more than 179 - and that was some time ago. Traffic movements are very light throughout the day. That won't be the case when 150 school staff and 840 children need to be moved. Optimistically there will be HUNDREDS of additional vehicle movements on rural roads.
You say that "Most of the villagers live on the opposite side of the main road". So what? Do you think the parents of 840 children won't come through the rest of the village to get to the school? Have you not seen the regular chaos outside the Primary School? And bear in mind, that the children at the Primary are local and not travelling from Slough, Hayes and Southall.
You said that "some of the people on the Facebook page should be ashamed of themselves, with people like Amrik Jalif on more than one occasion wanting the protest outside the Sikh Primary school, scaring the innocent children that study there. Not one villager voiced against the idea". Again, this is not only incorrect, it is a bare faced lie. Certainly Amrik suggested a protest, as is everyone's legitimate right, but several of us, MYSELF INCLUDED, said no, and are documented on Facebook as having said so. The forum is an open platform for discussion and ideas, you have taken Amrik's comment out of context to imply we are being unreasonable. You are wrong, and if someone suggests protest then that is symptomatic of the anger the vast majority of residents feel about this project. 1000 people on Facebook and 425 people at the Public Meeting are testimony to that
You said that you "really cant see what this has to do with surrounding villages like Fulmer". What? Are you barking? These villages are going to be affected by a massive increase in traffic! Not only that, this school will become there nearest school and if they choose NOT to send their child there, because of discrimination on the basis of 'Faith', then they will be paying for the cost of home to school travel elsewhere - and that could be £1000 a year. So much for an increasing 'choice'.

It seems you are more than happy to accept the solution for someone else's problem. Worse than that, it seems it won't affect you so 'you're alright Jack' eh? Stoke Poges is a pleasant place to live because over many years it has striven to avoid becoming part of Slough's land grab. Its probably why you would choose to live there. That is worth hanging on to and selfish people like you, who would happily give up the environment we live in, we can do without.

If you really want to make yourself useful then can I respectfully ask you to put pressure on SLOUGH BOROUGH COUNCIL to get their priorities right and put this school, and the 5 others planned, in the areas that they will actually serve. Residents of outlying villages should not have to pay for the mismanagement of Slough and the egos of the SSET.

Steve Holloway says...
8:48am Thu 14 Feb 13

@evolution 5 '

Quote 'really cant see what this has to do with surrounding villages like Fulmer etc, and getting kids to sign a form which has no age restrictions is just fudging the numbers. the idea of sticking posters up miles away from the site is equally pointless'

So the latest note from the SSET encouraging Sikh's to 'fill in the form on behalf of family and relatives' because there appear to be more NO votes than YES votes isn't an attempt to fudge the figures?
The SSET set the rules for the consultation so there fact there are no age restrictions is down to the SSET and I would expect that prospective students should have a right to view on this.
Or is it the view of the SSET (your view?) that all votes are equal, just some are more equal than others?

Sikh Villager says...
10:03pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Steve, VR good posts. He's obviously an idiot, we should leave him to wallow in the superiority of his own keyboard. You cant reason with the unreasonable.

evolution5 says...
12:02am Fri 15 Feb 13

@ Sikh Villager. There's only one idiot and that is you. You are clearly a stupid person referring to others as "you lot", like you are something special - you should take a long hard look in the mirror - Avtar Singh/Amrik Jalif whichever one you are.

I'm entitled to my opinion the same as anyone else, and my opinion is the villagers are making a mountain out of a molehill. Its fine for you to burden other areas with your traffic but want to protest outside primary schools when you may have a small impact to your own. its a brownfield site which will get filled per capacity by hundreds of people no matter what you choose to put there and here you will be missing out on a good investment

@ village rascal. there were no strong descending voices for such shameful comments and Amrik Jalif was not the only one with such a comment as the likes of Russell Cook made similar ones. why would you want to try and cover them

Village Rascal says...
1:21am Fri 15 Feb 13

@evolution5. Please, give up whilst you have an opportunity. You are SERIOUSLY barking up the wrong tree. Stop trying to bring this discussion down to a slanging match. And belittling villagers attempts to maintain the calm in their village is shameful. If you bothered to read the posts, which you clearly haven't, you would realise that this is a massive and collective no to SSET. And yet many villagers have publicly stated they would help the SSET achieve their aim, but in SLOUGH, where it should be (have alook at the post on Khalsa School Facebook page). Be careful who you criticise because you have most certainly accused the wrong people. And if 'shameful comments' like "not sure its fair to target parents. But I also get the impression that Khalsa Primary School parents are largely oblivious to the problem being created."(by Russell Cook) are offensive then I'm sure society is doomed. The Villagers of Stoke Poges have public opinion on their side and they hold the moral high ground. They are a very reasonable bunch. Knock them at your peril.

Avtar Singh says...
8:54am Fri 15 Feb 13

evolution5 wrote:
@ Sikh Villager. There's only one idiot and that is you. You are clearly a stupid person referring to others as "you lot", like you are something special - you should take a long hard look in the mirror - Avtar Singh/Amrik Jalif whichever one you are.

I'm entitled to my opinion the same as anyone else, and my opinion is the villagers are making a mountain out of a molehill. Its fine for you to burden other areas with your traffic but want to protest outside primary schools when you may have a small impact to your own. its a brownfield site which will get filled per capacity by hundreds of people no matter what you choose to put there and here you will be missing out on a good investment

@ village rascal. there were no strong descending voices for such shameful comments and Amrik Jalif was not the only one with such a comment as the likes of Russell Cook made similar ones. why would you want to try and cover them
@evolution5: I have no need to hide behind a pseudonym - I am Avtar Singh, not Sikh Villager. I have always written under my own name and refuse to lower myself to name calling and playground behaviour. I reiterate - this is not, and has never been, about a faith school, it's purely about the site, the land grab, and the behaviours exhibited thus far during what is meant to be a legal process.

GEL12345 says...
9:51am Fri 15 Feb 13

@ Everyone that is against the school being built:
#You are a "SL" POSTCODE!!!!!! not HP
So! stop referring yourselves as 'We are not part of Slough'

How about building a checkpoint?

And another thing:
Think about the children that want to learn and grow up and possibly become a future Jessica Ennis or Mo Farah?
Don't they have a say?????
I only wish I had those facilities when I was younger.
What happened to your 2012 Spirit

I always take the 'Can Do Approach'

Can You????

One last thing:
Your property prices have not gone down since 2007!
3 bed house:
2007 = £300k
2013 = £300k

Stoke Poges Recession!!!! What Recession!!!!!

Steve Holloway says...
12:15pm Fri 15 Feb 13

GEL12345
There is a minor thing is this country called 'A County'. It defines geographical boundaries and political constituencies. The concept has been around for a long time!
Stoke Poges is part of South Bucks not Slough Borough Council. So Stoke Poges is not part of Slough.
With regards to Children wanting to grow up to be Jess Ennis or Mo Farah then I am all in favour of these facilities being available to all children and would hope that all Schools are invested in, not just Free Schools catering to a minority of children.

And with regards to your comments on house prices I am at a loss to understand your point. At no point in any of the opposition from Stoke Poges has house price even been mentioned!

I would also point out that if the house price has been static for 6 years then in real terms this is a drop in value, therefore a recession!

In Stoke Poges we have very much a can do attitude, I think observed by the village community believing that We Can influence this process, and also from the number of individuals that have offered support to the SSET to lobby Slough Council to use existing School land bordering the existing Khalsa Primary School, for the Khalsa Secondary Academy, rather than sell this land for use as a football stadium. An offer that has been steadfastly ignored by the SSET.

We are in no way denying the desire of the Sikh Community to build a Sikh based school, simply believe, and are willing to support, the appropriate location for it!

GEL12345 says...
1:16pm Fri 15 Feb 13

@ Steve Holloway:
I assume your from Bolton then?
Not born in Slough?
Like I was!
And yes not yesterday either to know what a county is Doh! lol.

Please see below link for more info:

http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/SL_postcode
_area

This is the problem I have with you lot!
It's them and us (meaning you + forum members) attitude.
Or putting it another way:
Slough v Stoke Poges

I also hear that many many Sikh's are opposing this site but how many are on your forum site are members?
Your group is bragging about 1000 members out of 5000 residents but how many in % terms are Sikhs?

And further more how many of all your members from all backgrounds live in Stoke Poges currently now? None in Florida then? Or far away countries?

Re.House Prices:
You need to go back to your forum and read again, I also heard comments about the house prices dropping because of the new site....what utter rubbish.
Please think again about the property prices I mentioned!
Most properties (if not all bar SP) have gone down in the last 6 years by at least £20k+ but amazingly SP has remained static.
I wonder why that it's......
I put it to you that it's the 'We are South Bucks Brigade'.

Before I go....
If your the same Steve Holloway:
Why are you adding people on your forum to increase member numbers from far away places??? i.e Not residents from Stoke Poges.

Village Rascal says...
1:46pm Fri 15 Feb 13

AndyTow wrote:
If you live in Iver, Denham, Gerrards Cross, Hedgerley, Fulmer, Farnham Common, Farnham Royal this concerns YOU! Khalsa Secondary Academy WILL become your nearest school. If you have a child currently in Year 5 or below you WILL have to pay approximately £1000 per year for transport if you choose not to send your child to this school.
Hahahaha. Why are you harping on about House prices? They'll probably go up if this school opens! So, ask yourself, why are so many against this? 'Cos its clearly not financial.

And, I might ask, why is the SSET asking people to 'fill in the consultation on behalf of friends and relatives' and appealing to people in Canada and India. It works both ways.

Anyway, I'm bored with this now. The SSET are morally bankrupt and Stoke Poges is in the right. Period.

Village Rascal says...
1:51pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Two other points, just quickly. The percentage of Sikhs in Stoke Poges is irrelevant. We've been at pains to point out that this is in no way related to race, religion or creed.

Secondly, post codes are allocated by the Post Office and have nothing much to do with County boundaries. That's basic knowledge.

Village Rascal says...
1:53pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Where's the edit when you need it.

AndyTow says...
1:54pm Fri 15 Feb 13

GEL12345
You lost me on the postcode bit. Are, for example, Iver, Ascot, Windsor, Maidenhead, Marlow, Bourne End, Gerrards Cross, Eton, Sunningdale and many more also in Slough according to you?

Steve Holloway says...
3:28pm Fri 15 Feb 13

@GEL12345
Given you seem to be aware of the content of the forum I can only assume you are a member of it! Which is fine, we are happy to allow people to join the forum who are interested, as opposed to deleting any dissenting voices which seems to be a characteristic of those running the Khalsa Secondary Academy facebook page. And given I assume you are a member of the forum I'm sure you can easily do the stats yourself! I am aware of a number of Sikh's in the forum who actively oppose the Secondary School proposal, as is their right, I don't feel the need to analyse the stats of the group, simply acknowledge that all members are all people who feel affected in some way!

I appreciate any learning opportunity and the link to wikipedia was indeed informative. I notice SL refers to a a Post Code area consisting of 8 towns run by various local authorities. Stoke Poges is in a different county and under different local authority control to Slough (the town).

I'm intrigued by your use of 'you lot', suggesting Stoke Poges v Slough. You clearly point out the forum has many members not from Stoke Poges, so who exactly are the 'you lot' you refer too?

As to whether I was born in Bolton as opposed to Slough, not sure the relevance! I live in Stoke Poges and feel quite entitled to care for an area I live in. I don't to to try an enforce my needs on the Slough Community and am confused why thinking about what I believe is best for me and my son in our community means i am part of a 'you lot', inferred in previous posts as a mob mentality!

I am also happy to post my views in my name rather than from behind a mask. You seem to have views on me and my entitlement to have a view, as I was born in Bolton, and wonder how much of who you are you will put in the public domain to support your entitlement to have a view on something that will massively affect the villagers of Stoke Poges when you seem to live in a different town!

Ilovestokepoges says...
5:54pm Sun 24 Feb 13

So the KSA say they couldn't proceed with location in Slough due to opposition from the LA. Well that is rubbish. The KSA are relying on changes to the Permitted Development Order to win the location at the Pioneer building. This change will apply to England and Wales, therefore Slough LA opposition doesn't apply. The KSA have been incredibly deceitful especially during the public consultation and student selection process. The KSA have drawn a firm iron curtain between themselves and the Stoke Poges community. There are plenty of places available in the Borough if Slough and the KSA can use the new Permitted Development Order to secure those sites.

Village Rascal says...
7:39pm Sun 24 Feb 13

@Ilovestokepoges. If indeed they've actually spoken to Slough Borough Council at all. And there are some doubts they did. More lies...

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